Review of 2006
Well, it's all quiet on the blogosphere! - I love this time between Christmas and New Year...plenty of time to reflect on God's goodness and faithfulness in the past year, and plenty to pray into and get excited about for the fast approaching New Year!
There's plenty of reviews on the TV at the moment, so I thought I'd do a mini review of the year from
'Thousands and Millions' - so here are my own personal top blog posts of 2006!
Taking the Lid off - A post on the power of the Holy Spirit taken from an interesting yet very powerful incident in our Kitchen in December!
Bible Week 2006 - A report on one of our highlights as a family in July this year!
Life of Phillip - I've been inspired over and over again this year by the life of Philip as seen in the book of Acts - He was a great example of a man led by the Holy Spirit
Life of Joseph - The life of Joseph continues to inspire me in making a difference for the Kingdom of God in the secular world around me.
Well that's it from my own very subjective point of view!!
Praise God, 2006 has been a great year. God has blessed us a family so much. My wife Rachel and Son Daniel are such amazing people that I am so grateful to God for. It's been great to see how Daniel has grown this year and how God has blessed him with great health.
I believe 2007 will be a great year of increase and overflow of the life and power of Jesus Christ in and through my life. I believe that it will be a year of seeing many people saved into the Kingdom of God and many people miraculously healed by Jesus Christ. I believe it will be a year of seeing God's Kingdom continue to advance in every part of my family, and the Holy Spirit flowing across every threshold of my life.
Have a great New Year everyone and I'll see you all in January 2007!
Labels: Blogs, Faith, Vision
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all. I hope this time is one that brings joy, peace and laughter to your life, and to that of your families and friends!
To read more about the greatest gift of all this Christmas, then click
here for an article on
'Who Jesus is' - Let the power of Jesus Christ change your life this Christmas time!
Labels: Christmas, Salvation
Christmas Fun!
Labels: Christmas, Humour
Ern Baxter on Eldership
Not had anything from
Ern Baxter for a while here on this blog. To correct this, here is a quote I came across recently which I thought was great and most challenging:
“We need a revival that will restore us to the essence of Christianity where God says, "Be ye holy for I am holy", a holiness that is not just external but that springs up from within. Godliness will not come about by preaching "Be godly" but people are going to want to be godly because they want to imitate the godliness that they see in their elders. What they see, not just what they hear will stimulate them to holiness. The greatest incentives are those that are seen in the examples of respected elders and those elders must take care to set a good example”
For a full article on this taken from Ern Baxter's book, 'The Chief Shepherd and His Sheep' then click here Labels: Ern Baxter, Leadership, Quotes
Taking the Lid Off
A funny incident happened last night. I put the kettle on to make a cup of tea and forgot to put the lid on!. This meant that when the kettle boiled, it kept on boiling and didn't switch itself off as normal. I left the room so Rachel rescued the situation (this happens a lot with me when I am in the Kitchen!) and switched it off
Anyway, God spoke to me powerfully through this little event!. One of my fellow Elders Ezekiel, spoke superbly with us here on Sunday about 'Be Boiling for the Spirit'. He used the verse from 1 Corinthians 14:1 which states:"Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy"
The Greek word used here for eagerly desire is 'zeloo' taken from the Greek Verb 'Zeo', which means to be hot, or to boil fervently. What a great picture to describe how passionate and fervent we should be for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives.
What really got me though from my 'kettle' story, was that it was only when the lid was taken off the kettle, that it boiled continuously. I believe this is true of our lives at times. We somtimes put a lid or a ceiling limit on the Holy Spirit's work in our lives. That lid can be our time, energies, unbelief, doubt or our passivity to the things of God. The Holy Spirit wants to 'fill' and 'boil over' in power in our witness, characters and lives as we live for Christ and His Kingdom.
Thank you Jesus that you have poured out your Holy Spirit 'without measure or limit' so that we can be clothed with power from on high. Thank you God that we can be continuously and passionately 'boiling over' with the explosive life of Christ by the Spirit that is at work in our daily lives! Labels: Faith, Holy Spirit, Vision
New Book by Tony Ling
Ever wanted to further study and get your head round the book of Revelation in the Bible? - Well, I believe this new book titled
'The Lion and the Lamb' could help you!
Tony Ling is the Author. He is a prophet of God. I have personally witnessed his ministry over the last 20+ years and been greatly blessed by it!. He is proven ministry of Christ that we gladly receive as a
Church.I've often heard him speak on the book of Revelation and explain simply that it is a book centred on the victory and power of Jesus Christ!
I'm really looking forward to reading it! - Want to get hold of the book? - Then click
here.
Labels: Books, Revelation, Tony Ling
A Spacious Place
He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me - 2 Samuel 22:20I was talking to a friend at the weekend about the changes that I've encountered from working full-time as an Architect to the role that I'm now fulfilling here in the
Church.
There are obviously differences between a mainly non-christian architect's office and a full time church environment. However, there is one exciting thread of continuity. The Kingdom of God, like the world of architecture is a spacious place of creativity.
The environment of the Holy Spirit is a vision rich culture of creativity, life and daily adventure. That's what I love about my life in Jesus Christ - there is always something exciting happening!
You have not handed me over to the enemy, but have set my feet in a spacious place - Psalms 31:8The world of architecture is all about making a dream and vision on paper, a reality in bricks, stone and glass. The Kingdom of God is all about making a heavenly vision and dream, a practical reality in the daily lives of people here on earth.
The Holy Spirit brings the people of God into a good and spacious place; free from fear, free from anxiety and worry, and into the power and free flow of joy, peace and strength.
God wants to make space in our lives so that we can delight in him. Space in our time and calendars to enjoy his love and grace. Space in our attitudes to dwell on his word, and space in our homes and families for his Holy Spirit to have full control of our lives.
I love the verse below from the book of Job. God calls us with the voice of his love, away from distress and hurt, to a spacious place where we can enjoy his presence and enjoy outworking his creative and exciting plans for our lives.
"He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction" - Job 36:16
Labels: Architecture, Kingdom of God, Vision
Miracle Working God
I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples - Psalms 77:12-14 (NIV)
I was reading the above Psalm today - It contains some wonderful truth about the nature and workings of God. In verse 14, Asaph states: 'You are the God who performs miracles'. What a great confession of eternal truth! Jesus Christ performs miracles, yesterday, today and forever.
From the miracle of salvation, to the miracle of diseases and sickness being healed - The Holy Spirit is on the move bringing the power and the life of Christ across the world in our time and generation.
It is important to continually make a good confession based on the word of God in relation to healing and miracles. We can be distracted by our experiences, when we need to be focussed on the truth of the word of God. I was greatly stirred and excited by reading and meditating on these glorious truths from the Bible:
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases - Psalms 103:2-4
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people - Matthew 4:23
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him - Acts 10:38
Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you" - John 20:21
Have a great weekend!
Labels: Confession, Holy Spirit, Miracles
Salvation comes to the Hilton Hotel!
The Beetham Tower is now Manchester's Tallest Building. It contains the 'Manchester Hilton Hotel' in the lower half of the Tower. I've written a short article on our church web-site relating to the great story of a guy becoming a Christian 23 storeys above City Centre, Manchester in this buidling!.....and then getting baptised in water in the Lake District! - Read more
here.
Labels: Manchester, News, Salvation
Daniel 1st Birthday Cont...
Labels: Daniel
Daniel is 1 Today!
Today is Daniel's first birthday - Wow, it has been quite a year since
December 13 2005 when 'mini-white' entered the world. Rachel and myself are so grateful to God for his faithfulness over this last year. Daniel Joseph is such a gift from God. He is so full of life, laughter and smiles! - We are a truly blessed family.
We had a great party for Daniel on saturday (pictured below). The little girl in the photo is Josie Barrow, she is 8 days olders than daniel, and the daughter of our great friends Paul & Jane here in
King's Church
Labels: Daniel
Close to the Harvest
Andrew Cursham shared yesterday in our two meetings on the power of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives. It was a great time as we responded to the word with many people being ministered to by the Holy Spirit. As a result, I believe we will see continuing fruit in the coming weeks in our Church family.
Andrew touched on the life of Philip in his message, and in particular the story of the Ethopian Eunuch in Acts 8. In this passage, Philip, prompted by the Holy Spirit, ran up to the Chariot that was carrying the Ethopian. He got close enough to hear what he was reading in Isaiah, and from that was able to show him from the Old Testament scriptures the truth of Jesus, and the gospel message of the Kingdom.
What struck me again yesterday was that Philip must have been very close to the chariot to hear what the Eunuch was reading. When Arne Skagen was with us in October, he spoke about getting 'close enough' to the harvest, in terms of people's lives, to see them brought into the Kingdom. He talked about being close enough to 'touch the harvest'. I was challenged once again yesterday about being led and in step with the Holy Spirit in all that I do.
I've spent quite a bit of time with non-christians recently which has been great, but am I close enough to them to bring them into the Kingdom and see their lives touched and transformed by Jesus? - I know I want to be, and I know I can be as I'm led and fuelled by the Holy Spirit in all that I do. It's a great challenge, but a wonderful opportunity! Labels: Arne Skagen, Holy Spirit, Salvation
Image of the Day
Labels: Images, Justice
'Therefore'
'Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God' - Romans 5:1-2 (NIV)
I'm busy preparing to teach tommorow at our 'Second Saturday' event here in the Church. This is an event where we gather each month on a saturday morning to hear teaching from the word of God for a couple of hours. At the moment, we are going through the book of Romans. It's a fantastic event.
Tommorow, I am down to share from Romans 5:1-11. The section starts with a superb word that is used in the Bible quite a bit; the word
'Therefore'.Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones said this about the use of the word 'therefore' in the Bible:
"I sometimes think that the whole secret of the Christian Life is to know how to use the word Therefore"Romans, Exposition on Chapter 5, Banner of Truth, 1971, Pg.1I'll post the rest of my notes on the side bar links in the near future - Have a great weekend!‘Therefore, as we opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers’Galatians 6:10
Labels: Second Saturday, Teaching Notes
Turner Prize 2006
A bit of an arty theme today. Tomma Abts has just won the Turner Prize for 2006. Click here to read more. She has done some great pieces of work.
Rachel and I saw her profiled on the TV the other night and thought that she would win.
Daniel is starting to get himself geared up for putting forward an entry for 2007!
As you can see he is very pleased with himself at the moment with his new teeth!
Here is his current 'artistic' efforts below:
Labels: Art, Daniel, Images
More Famous than David Beckham?
I had an interesting chat with a non-christian friend at the weekend. He ended our time by saying:
'Well, Jesus isn't as famous as David Beckham!'. Of course, I disagreed!
Now, Google searches are not a totally accurate barometer of who is most famous, or who will change your life forever. However, I thought the following results were quite interesting and fun!. These were gained by typing the following searches into
Google yesterday:
God: 403,000,000 Links
Jesus Christ: 29,100,000 Links
Holy Spirit: 7,050,000 Links
Bradford City: 3,880,000 Links
David Beckham: 3,530,000 Links
Wayne Rooney: 2,080,000 Links
Never mind David and Wayne!, not only does Jesus Christ beat you hands down, but even the mighty 'Bradford City' are more famous according to Google!
On a more important note! - Jesus Christ stated the following eternal truth 2,000 years ago:
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full John 10:10 (NIV)Labels: Fun, Jesus Christ, Media, Salvation
Advent Calendar?
Well its only 5 days into December and I've got my first Christmas Meal tonight!
Further to my post last week on Christmas Stamps, Judith Anniss has written a great article on our church website on a similar theme. Click
here to read!
Labels: Blogs, Christmas, Fun
Wisdom
'God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore'
1 Kings 4:29 (NIV)
I read this verse today as I was preparing for our staff lunch at King's House. Each month we get the staff and volunteers together for a buffet lunch for fellowship, and encouragement from the word. This month, we were looking at the subject of wisdom. In recent months we have looked at integrity and excellence in the workplace.
Solomon had great God given insight and wisdom. This wisdom was measureless, like the sand on the seashore. That's pretty non-quantifiable! I love that about God. He is so BIG! His wisdom is without limit, his grace is lavish, his joy is abundant and his power is without measure.
God is a great God. A God of infinite love and unlimited resource! He is a faithful God who equips and empowers his people each day as they go into their lives and workplaces as ambassadors for King Jesus.
For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit - John 3:34
Labels: Holy Spirit, King's House, Vision, Wisdom
Present Aid
Stuck for what to buy for your nearest and dearest this Christmas? - Then, have a look at 'Present Aid'. It's a great concept where you buy your family or friend a present in the form of an ethical gift that benefits someone else in the world.
For example, this Christmas, Rachel and Myself are buying her dad a goat that someone in Bolivia will receive and benefit from!
Have a look at the website to find out more! - www.presentaid.org
Labels: Charities, Christmas
